This year, the price of a Christmas tree in China is only half of last year’s price. The reason for this appears to be a new policy by the Chinese government, but before we look into that, let’s learn how to say “Big Christmas tree price reduction” in Chinese:

Hover over any word to show translation

shèng dàn shù

圣诞树

聖誕樹

Christmas tree

dà

大

大

big, large

jiàng jià

降价

降價

price reduction

。

Big Christmas tree price reduction.

Character set

Pinyin

So how cheap is it really? You can get a 1.5 meters tall tree including 100 decorations for only 39 yuan, or about 6 dollars.

Hover over any word to show translation

xiàn zài

现在

現在

now, at present

，

1.5

1.5

mǐ

米

米

meter (classifier)

de

的

的

(used after an attribute)

shèng dàn shù

圣诞树

聖誕樹

Christmas tree

jiā shàng

加上

加上

plus, to add

100

100

ge

个

個

classifier for people or objects in general

zhuāng shì

装饰

裝飾

to decorate

shèng dàn shù

圣诞树

聖誕樹

Christmas tree

yào

要

要

must, to need

yòng

用

用

to use

dào

到

到

(verb complement denoting completion or result of an action)

de

的

的

(used after an attribute)

cǎi dēng

彩灯

彩燈

illumination

、

cǎi qiú

彩球

綵球

colorful balls, Christmas balls

děng

等

等

et cetera, and so on

，

zhǐ

只

只

only, just

yào

要

要

must, to need

39

39

yuán

元

元

Chinese yuan, currency in PRC

。

Nowadays, a 1.5 meters tall Christmas tree including 100 lights, christmas balls and other things required for decorating the tree is only 39 yuan.

Character set

Pinyin

Why is it so cheap? Well, one shop owner says that the biggest reason is the new frugality campaign put forward by the government. Before this policy came about, many companies would buy large Christmas trees to decorate their offices before Christmas. For them, what is important is whether or not the Christmas tree looks good, and not so much the price. But because of the frugality campaign, no companies are buying Christmas trees anymore. Now, it is instead families having small children who buy Christmas trees. These families put more value into whether or not the price is reasonable, and the only way for sellers to guarantee sales volumes is therefore to lower the price.

Hover over any word to show translation

yǒu

有

有

to have, there is

diàn zhǔ

店主

店主

shop owner

shuō

说

說

to speak, to say

，

jīn nián

今年

今年

this year

shèng dàn

圣诞

聖誕

Christmas

zhuāng shì pǐn

装饰品

裝飾品

ornament

dà

大

大

big, large

jiàng jià

降价

降價

price reduction

de

的

的

(used after an attribute)

zuì

最

最

the most

dà

大

大

big, large

yuán yīn

原因

原因

cause, origin

shì

是

是

is, are

guó jiā

国家

國家

country, nation, state

tí chū

提出

提出

to raise (an issue), to put forward

de

的

的

(used after an attribute)

“

jié jiǎn

节俭

節儉

frugal, economical

fēng

风

風

custom, manner

”。

One shop owner says that the biggest reason for this year's sale on Christmas ornaments is the new frugality campaign put forward by the government.

Character set

Pinyin

This is the accompanying blog post for our intermediate lesson "Great Christmas Tree Sale".You can read the entire lesson for free using Du Chinese, available for iPhone and Android.Click here for more information.